Arizona bill: Missing the Whole Point

Robert Garcia’s Point of View of June 16th appears to be a new tack on an old Progressive line: misstating the content and intent of Arizona’s SB 1070 (read it yourself at http://www.azleg.gov/legtext/49leg/2r/bills/sb1070s.pdf). It has become a “polarizing issue” because of self-serving, ideological statements from those like Garcia, his Inland Valley Democratic Club, and other Progressive Socialists right up to the White House and Palacio Nacional. For a few weeks, they insisted they had not read the ten page document, and could claim ignorance when they misrepresented it to the public. Now they just ignore the facts and move right on to making up stuff. Though “still studying it”, Obama’s Justice Department just announced a lawsuit against Arizona’s law.

Garcia is sad to imagine that the entire issue is nothing but a publicity stunt. Evidently, he had not heard that millions of illegal aliens are wandering into the U.S. at will, bringing gangsters, terrorists, drugs, weapons, kidnappings and murders with them. This is not an “immigration debate” as they tirelessly repeat to us. This is illegal immigration, and the increasingly Socialist government (both parties, though Democrats lead the charge) have ignored or promoted it, either for votes or for cheap labor. It’s funny how many SEIU and Socialist/Communist banners were among the La Raza ones carried by anti-Arizona protesters.

Credit to Mr. Garcia - - he actually read the law and acknowledges that its language makes it unsuitable for violating anyone’s rights. Our thanks to him for that. As a refreshing break, he just asks us to dismiss the danger as simply an attempt to get attention from the feds. It is less insulting than calling the majority of Americans “racist” for wanting to recover our economy and defend our families, but it is no more accurate.

Despite Mr. Garcia’s misleading statistics and observations (over half a million illegals have crossed through Arizona this year (it’s only June) and they are now working largely in S.E.I.U. and similar jobs, rather than street corners. There was a slight decrease in illegal population when the recession got deep, but then it got even deeper in Mexico. Obama widened and deepened the social handout system in the U.S., adding health care to the offer sheet, so they came back with friends.

Mr. Garcia thinks that detaining (removing from work) and deporting a few percent of the 15 million (sorry, it’s not “11 million”) illegals would have no effect. Since most deportees would be those arrested for some crime, and it would be backed up with removing their jobs and welfare benefits, the cumulative effect on the “attractiveness” of Arizona should be very effective. Better for citizens and guests; not worthwhile for illegals. Combined with a realistic border defense system, illegal immigration should cease to be a major problem, and citizens and immigrants can get on with life.

But then Mr. Garcia reverts to form. He reads the minds of the Arizona Legislators and Governor, dealing with crime, a sinking economy and angry citizens of all races, and divines their true intent. Either that or he makes up a new divisive angle. In any case, he tells us that enforcement was never then intent, and they only wanted to “spark outrage, sell papers and get voters”. Evidently, no one had noticed the problems until Arizona cleverly tricked Progressives into misrepresenting their law and raising a stink.

Arizonans waste billions annually on illegal aliens for education, food assistance, housing assistance, medical care (about to multiply), incarcerating criminals, fighting drug and gang crime, and lost jobs “that no one else wants” (with high and climbing unemployment). Ranchers go armed, large areas are closed to U.S. citizens for safety and Border Patrol Agents get attacked with rocks and automatic weapons

No. Sorry. For Arizonans, including immigrants, this is deadly serious; not some White House photo op.